And how's the refinement? Canadians have voted with their wallets: nearly half of all VWs sold feature TDI diesels, which gives some notion

Instruments are clear, if not slightly 'Fisher Price'. Purple-blue glow will never go out of style. (Photo: Justin Couture, Canadian Auto Press)

about how they perform. In all honesty, aside from the slight clatter that you get on startup and at idle, the diesel's putter is a soft, endearing noise that's no louder or annoying than the old 8-valve gasoline motor. The whistle of the turbo is only audible when the windows are rolled down and at low speed, most of which is downplayed by wind noise generated by the Bug's less than aerodynamic exterior. The PD-TDI banishes memories of black, sooty smoke and unburnt fumes for good.

Interestingly, even though most VW owners would be proud to show the world that bugs are powered by Rudolph's finest, the Beetle's tail is unadorned with the exception of a VW logo, appropriately sized for 1980s chain use, Beastie Boys style.

Concerning transmissions, you have a choice - a five-speed manual or VW's DSG twin-clutch sequential manual gearbox. It sounds complicated, but given it's ability to make the most savvy enthusiast stumble in describing its operation, it's better to think of it as a smarter alternative to the conventional automatic. It's a reasonable justification: on first appearance there's nothing different in appearance inside or out between previous automatic Beetles and this DSG model, with the exception of a small chrome collar around the geometric shift knob with 'DSG' logo. You can either leave it in drive, bump the lever over to the Tiptronic mode, or use the Sport mode which holds gears to the redline.

Having been first applied to the sporty TT, VW has adapted the program to better fit the characteristics of the TDI diesel engine. The shifts are

An exclusive to the TDI, the DSG gearbox beats a traditional automatic in every way imaginable. (Photo: Justin Couture, Canadian Auto Press)

just as smooth as on the TT 250, but they seem slightly slower than I remember. The 'S' mode for the TDI is rather trivial - with only a 4,500 rpm redline and most of the torque produced in the lower areas, it's an unnecessary feature that's more of a novelty if anything. But for all of the DSG's high-end gadgetry you can still tell that a real manual transmission is at its heart. The transition from stop to go on a hill results in a bit of roll back before the clutch catches, creeping the car forward. Likewise, it rolls back slightly more than an automatic when parked, although it's not like a manual in that it locks to prevent further rollback when parking.

The diesel Beetle is grin-inducing - when it comes down to fuel consumption! My first day's worth of driving of nearly 100 km (62 miles) couldn't make the fuel needle budge from beyond full. Happiness also resulted at the end of the first week, which saw over 1,200 km (745 miles) elapse on the trip odometer, and having emptied just a tank and an eighth, costing all of $65.00. Averaging that out, the TDI variant returned just 5.7 L/100 km (41 mpg) in a 60/40 split of highway and city driving. It's very difficult not to grin with that kind of fuel consumption. This is compared to the 2.5, which, under similar driving conditions provided 8.9 L/100 km (26 mpg). Official city and highway figures from Transport Canada are located in on the spec sheet at the end of the review.